Creating an invoice

You need Create invoices. A new invoice is saved as a Draft, so you can keep changing it until you issue it.

Ways to start

Start from	What’s filled in for you
Finance › Invoices › Create invoice	Nothing. You pick the patient.
A patient’s Invoices tab › New invoice	The patient.
Generate Invoice on an appointment	The patient, a line for the visit (priced from appointment-type pricing), and, depending on your modules, lines for the treatments linked to the visit, lab orders made in it, and billable supplies used during it.
Generate Invoice on a treatment, treatment plan or lab order	The patient and a line for that record.

While Meddesk prepares the lines, you see Fetching the invoice items to review. Every generated line can still be edited or removed before you save.

1. Patient

Under Patient, search and pick the patient. All lines must belong to this patient. For example, you can’t add a visit of another patient (Appointment does not belong to this patient). After the invoice is saved, the patient can’t be changed (Patient cannot be changed for existing invoices).

2. Invoice details

Field	Notes
Issue date	Shown for information: the date the invoice is created.
Due date	Optional. When payment is expected. After this date, an invoice with a balance counts as overdue in filters, the Outstanding Receivables widget and reports.

3. Items

The Items list starts empty: “No line items yet. Add the visits or charges this invoice should bill the patient for.” An invoice must have at least one item before it can be saved (Invoice must have at least one item).

Add from patient records

Select Add from patient records. This opens “This patient’s treatments, lab orders, visits and supplies, newest first.”

• Narrow the list by type (All, or a single kind), or tick Not invoiced and Completed only. Use Search records to find one.
• Each record shows its estimated amount and its state:
  • Not completed: the work isn’t finished yet. You can still bill it, for example as a deposit.
  • On this invoice: already a line here.
  • Invoice #12: already billed on another invoice.
  • Estimated: the amount is an estimate taken from the record.
• Tick the records and select Add # lines. Each record becomes one line, with its description and amount filled in.

Add a line yourself

Select Add item to open the line editor (“Choose what this line bills for, then check the wording and the amount”):

Field	What to enter
Bills for	The one record this line charges for: a treatment, lab order or supplies used. Its estimate fills in the description and amount. Or choose Custom charge for a line not linked to any record, for example a certificate fee.
Related records	Records this charge belongs to, for reference: typically the visit. Select Add to link one. A visit can only ever be a related record, never what the line bills for.
Description	Required (“Enter a description”). What the patient sees on the invoice.
Price	0 or more (“Enter a price of 0 or more”).
Discount	Optional. Enter it as an amount, or as a percent of the price. It can’t exceed the price (“The discount can’t be more than the price”).

The Line total (price minus discount) updates as you type. Select Add line, or Add and start another to add several in a row. To change a line later, use Edit item. To delete it, Remove item.

Why link lines to records?

Linking a line to the treatment, lab order or supplies it bills is what lets each of those records show Not invoiced, Unpaid, Partly paid or Paid on its own page, and what lets the “Completed treatments not invoiced” report find work you haven’t billed yet.

4. Notes

Select Add internal notes… to add notes for your team. Change them later with Edit notes.

5. Check the summary and save

The Summary shows:

• Subtotal: all line prices,
• Discount: all line discounts, with the percentage,
• Total: what the patient owes before payments.

Select Create invoice. You see Invoice created. and the invoice opens as a Draft.

Next steps

• Issue the invoice when it’s final.
• Record a payment when the patient pays.

Troubleshooting

Message	Cause and fix
Invoice must have at least one item	Add a line before saving.
Appointment does not belong to this patient	A linked visit belongs to someone else. Remove the link or pick the right patient.
A line can be billed for one record only.	A line has two “Bills for” records. Split it into two lines.
The same record is linked twice on one line.	Remove the duplicate link.
A line can bill one record, and records like visits can only be linked for reference.	A visit was set as what the line bills for. Link the visit under Related records instead.
A line is linked to a kind of record that can’t be invoiced.	The record’s module may be turned off. Remove the link or use a custom charge.
Insufficient permissions to create invoices	Your role lacks Create invoices.